Veggie burgers could be rebranded “veggie discs” and vegan sausages turned into “veggie tubes” under new EU food labelling rules proposed in Brussels.

The latest round of food labelling regulations approved by the EU parliament’s agriculture committee this week would ban the use of terms such as “burger”, “sausage”, “escalope” and “steak” for products that do not contain meat.

Some believe the plan bears the fingerprints of Europe’s powerful meat lobby, keen to protect its profits and crush the trend towards veganism and vegetarianism.

“It’s obviously an attempt to attack vegetarian meat substitutes. For me, it’s number one a sign that the meat lobby is worried about a rapid change in diets, especially among young people – a lot of which is about their response to climate change,” Green MEP Molly Scott Cato told The Independent.

“The meat industry is feeling the pressure of people shifting to what is basically cheaper and healthier food – namely a plant-based diet.”

Meat-loving French MEPs slipped the blandly named “compromise amendment 41” into proposals to reform the EU’s common agricultural policy at the last minute. They say the meat lobby is not involved and that the plan is simply “common sense”.

The regulations’ backers point to a precedent set in 2017 after the European Court of Justice ruled that soya milk could not be described as “milk” because it does not contain any dairy. The plant-based alternative to the white stuff is now known as “soya drink”.

The plan, which was supported by 29 votes in favour of seven against and one abstention on the Agri committee, will be voted on by all the parliament’s MEPs after the European elections.

Several sources at the parliament told The Independent they judged that the proposal had a reasonable chance of going through, given its support at committee stage and among major groups in the parliament.

A coalition of environmentalist NGOs has set themselves against the regulations.